Yes, it is true. GM is supplied products from ISO 9001:2008 / TS16949 suppliers, many so-called “accredited” by ANSI-ANAB® (American National Standards Institute-American National Accrediting Board). On their own web site, ANSI-ANAB® explains how they evade certification responsibility under their heading: “Is your Certificate Accredited?” You can see their strategy for yourself in their own words hidden on their website. ANSI-ANAB® says: “If your certificate was issued by an ANSI-ANAB® accredited certification body (CB= Registrar) the answer to this question is probably yes.” (Source: http://www.anab.org/accreditation.aspx)

“Any company that invests in ISO certification while knowing its accreditation is just a ‘probably’ must be owned and managed by morons.” – Henry Kroger, American Board of Accredited Certifications

Do you feel comfortable with their use of the meaningless word “probably”? It is absurd and a mockery to the quality community that ANSI-ANAB® does not guarantee accreditation. Look at GM’s situation. ANSI-ANAB® will tell you that the certificate of quality does not certify the product; it certifies the system! In layman’s terms, it is only the paperwork, not the product that is “certified.” This is misleading to customers that buy the actual products because they obviously believe the product is quality certified. The point is, a company can have stellar paperwork and pass your audit, or you can get nonsensical, non-value-added rejections on quality system paperwork that does not emphatically improve system functionality, production, quality, or on-time delivery!

All this is tainted by the ANSI-ANAB® use of the word “probably.” It contaminates their certifications and undermines quality at all levels from the starting material to the finished product. So as a quality professional, what can be seen as the root cause of this GM issue? The problem is clearly ANSI-ANAB® (American National Standards Institute-American National Accrediting Board) IAF-(International Accreditation Forum), IATF-(International Automotive Task Force-/SAE Society of Automotive Engineers (http://www.iatfglobaloversight.org/content.aspx?page=AboutIATF).

GM is one of the many car companies that sits on the board of the IATF-(International Automotive Task Force to advise on quality standards. ANSI- ANAB®, IAF, IATF, SAE, etc with other auto companies. Force so-called requirements set forth to unfairly profit from companies. For example, many suppliers in the automotive industry are forced to be TS16949 certified and accredited by (ANSI- ANAB®). However, as aforementioned, ANSI-ANAB® does not guarantee accreditation, and therefore, companies are being certified with absolutely no guarantee on the quality of their products. It’s clear GM’s certificates were not and are not a guarantee of GM’s products and to exacerbate the issue further, GM is one of the companies that is on the IATF committee to make quality specifications. GM had “69 words” many in the vein (terminology) of quality, that their employees were forbidden to use on written reports, corrective actions or through email or oral communication. What a complete waste of time and money! (http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/05/16/the-69-words-you-cant-use-at-gm/

“As one of the largest trade associations for the American custom manufacturing marketplace, we only recognize ISO certificates guaranteed to be accredited.” – Donald LaBelle, AMSN President

The working principles of Quality have been relegated to “Not for-Profits,” Interlocking Directorate’s, and many nested groups that want you to believe they are not affiliated with one another. In addition, American National Standards Institute (ANSI), part of ANAB®, and ASQ (American Society for Quality) IAF (International Accreditation forum) IATF (International Automotive Task Force) SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers) are to be found in this affiliation of uncertainty. The chain of Quality is not broken. It is shattered for GM and for many, many others.

GM sits along with many other automotive companies on the IATF- International Automotive Task Force. They set and make mandatory the rules for all suppliers and subcontractors to be TS 16949 certified. Mind you they also designed that standard in concert with the American National Accrediting Board, the Society for Automotive Engineers, the International Accreditation Forum, and of course, the International Standards Organization (ISO®). It should now be apparent that failure is part of this quality standard, since as you can see Ford, GM, Toyota, and Chrysler and others, along with many of their suppliers, are all associated in this “probably” strategy. GM recently announced another recall of 7 million cars. This is a 7 million unit Quality Failure which has crept through the ISO certification barrier like so many other Quality Failures in the recent past. So, one must ask then, what good has resulted from all their ISO organizing and “certification” efforts?

The failure of ISO is the failure of GM and other corporations, enabling the release into the marketplace of millions of quality failures as the manufacturers are hauling in the profits and not correcting their production or their released products until the failures are discovered by the end users, often at the expense of life and limb. How then is this Quality? GM and many other major manufacturers have become hopelessly entangled in the ISO and Quality scams, which to a large extent is the result of their own involvement at the ISO and Quality level of management. It’s further evidence that quality suffers greatly when companies are forced to be accredited by ANSI-ANAB® in order to be recognized as so-called reputable suppliers this effects all industries also. When it comes to ANSI-ANAB®, IAF and other quality debauchers, their only so-called “checks and balances” come from their massively growing bank accounts at your expense.

Why Companies Worldwide Continue To Be Hoodwinked By ANAB-ANSI®, IAF and Their Quality Scam

Thousands of companies continue to fall prey to quality certifications scams because they allow themselves to believe in the lies, myths and propaganda in the ISO certification process. Many business owners are too embarrassed to admit they have been duped. Others rationalize why their ISO certification is “probably valid” despite it being issued with no guarantee of accreditation or real value. The problem is these companies believe in the authoritative claims being made by ANAB-ANSI®, IAF and their clapping seal audience that support them, including corrupt registrars, consultants, auditors and others promoting the scheme in the pursuit of profit. The bottom line is companies fall prey to these scams because they either ignore or don’t care to learn the facts and therefore, they allow themselves to be hoodwinked….

“It is easier to believe a lie one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact no one has heard before.” – AA Milne
“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.” – Thomas Paine
“When faced with what is right, most men lack the courage to correct it.” – Confucius

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Words of Wisdom

"It is not the certificate that makes the company, it is the company that makes the certification."
-Daryl Guberman

"Quality, is about following a standard, being accredited and making the process of attaining, maintaining and sustaining the system with symplisicity rather than complexity and not overcharging the company/customer - Daryl Guberman

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten" - Benjamin Franklin

“Along habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” - Thomas Paine